If you're really determined to use the E-Reader, it shouldn't be too terribly difficult to track down everything. The actual e-Reader can be bought used for $15. If you don't have any friends with a GBA, get a used one - they're $50.
Admittedly, it's not going to be cheap to use the e-Reader feature. Nintendo should be applauded, though, for making use of an otherwise useless accessory - the only other games I can think of that use it are Animal Crossing and Pokemon.
Being able to infinitely expand the game's content is always a plus...isn't it?
...unfortunately for Nokia, it looks like a bomb. I'll admit that I have yet to hold or play with an N-Gage, so most of what I know about it is from news stories.
The apparent design flaws are, for the most part, inexcusable. God knows what posessed Nokia to use a vertical screen - I can't recall seeing any games, with the exception of arcade games, run on a vertically-aligned screen. Having to hold the phone's narrow edge to your head to talk is reason enough to ignore the phone function. Beyond that, that orientation means finger prints galore on the screen. And having to take the battery out to change games...that was just a horrible idea.
Nokia is also missing quality games. While the games they've remade or ported are good ones, I haven't heard anything about N-Gage games beyond the launch titles.
The N-Gage has nothing going for it and will probably fail very early on. Better luck next time, Nokia.
The real profits are made by the software, not the hardware. Even if Nintendo is now losing money on the GCs (not bloody likely), they'll still be selling plenty of games to keep the GC owners entertained. Since Nintendo still has some A-List titles to release (such as Mario Kart and Mario Golf), they won't be suffering anytime soon.
For years, they made playing cards in Japan. IIRC, it was sometime in the 1970s that Nintendo began producing electronic games and, eventually, video games. Do a Google search for "History of Nintendo" and you'll probably find a much more detailed account.
This Reminds Me of a Story...
on
Microwave Fun
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· Score: 3, Funny
In a hotel trip for FIRST Robotics, some of my friends got the brilliant idea to microwave a CD.
The aftermath? A charred CD in the garbage can, stinking up our hotel floor. Their microwave, soaking in their bathtub (supposedly to douse the flames).
Moral of the story? Microwaves are fun, but be careful what you put in them.
This game has been hailed repeatedly as "The Best RPG of All Time"... if you listen to fanboys. The game itself was okay, but that's all it is. FF7 didn't bring anything revolutionary to the RPG genre. Hell, there are other, better RPGs even within the Final Fantasy series. The only things that FF7 did truly right were being one of the earlier RPGs released for the Playstation and being the recipient of millions of Square's advertising budget.
Think about it: for a minimum of time and money spent porting the games, Nintendo has a cheaply-made freebie that they won't lose money from and that will drive the fans crazy. It's perfect for everyone.
Aha. After a quick Google search, I found a site that's got an interview with the player who killed Lord British, and the official response from the Ultima Online team. That site is here.
If I remember correctly, Lord British was killed during the UO Beta test phase. His character was supposed to be invincible, but because of a bug in the game, one of the players managed to kill him.
Personally, I don't think the RIAA has a snowball's chance in hell of completely eliminating file sharing. No matter what they do concering Kazaa and file swapping in general, they've forgotten the easiest way to get free music: borrow a CD from a friend (or a library) and burn a copy of it or rip it to MP3. The RIAA has said previously that you're allowed to make backup copies of music for "personal use." As long as you don't try and sell it, you should be fine.
Until the RIAA manages to outlaw leaving your home or sharing legally purchased private property, it's still going to be easy to get free music.
One of the best typing tutors I've ever used is "Typing of the Dead," which you can find for both the PC and the Dreamcast. The game began as "House of the Dead 2," and Sega modified the graphics slightly (all of the characters have keyboards strapped onto their torsos...) and the method of attack. Now, you use your keyboard to kill zombies instead of a light gun.
This program is effective because it's fun. It has a (somewhat pathetic) tutorial mode, and the first level or so in the game is easy. It gets hard very quickly, though. If you want to continue playing, you've got to learn how to touch type, and do it quickly - if you can't type quickly, you're toast. And there's something gratifying about watching the zombies explode into green piles of goo...
If you can find the game (should be less than $20), get it. You won't regret it.
Here's a short list of characters I think would be good for the walkway. I know that everyone has different opinions, but there are definitely a few that should be on their "Walk of Game" regardless.
-Mario. There's no arguing this one. -Pac-Man. One of the most popular arcade games of our time. -Donkey Kong. Like Pac-Man, his arcade game was enormously popular. -Lara Croft. She's made a huge cultural impact, so she's in.
There's also the characters that would be nice, but probably wouldn't be accepted...
-Q-Bert. Seems appropriate to me - he works well with square tiles... -Pitfall Harry. Pitfall was one of the Atari's better games, and he would be a great choice. -Link. The Legend of Zelda series has been proven to be a hit time and time again, but the character isn't very well known outside of the gaming community. -Guybrush Threepwood, just because he's so damn cool.
Anyone have any more suggestions? I'd love to see what others are thinking...
Ah...an intelligent poster. The gaming world needs more people like you.
As for defining the genre...ask any PC gamer to name an RPG. I can almost guarantee that they won't mention FF or Pokemon. It seems to be an opinion held, for the most part, by console gamers.
I realize I've gotten off-topic from my original post, but I still think that Pokemon is a very well done game. It's just not the only kind of RPG out there.
I know exactly what you're talking about, and it bothers me too at times. Still, what other genre would Pokemon and Final Fantasy fall into? The only one that comes to mind is adventure, and that's not a very good fit. What genre do you consider these games?
Pokemon is most definitely a dead fad, but the game franchises won't be going anywhere soon. Even if you hate all of the marketing that once surrounded the series, you've got to admit one thing: the games that started it all were actually good.
I still remember (was it back in 1998? Seems longer...) when I got my Pokemon Red game. The games had just been released in the U.S. and the series wasn't exactly popular at that point in time. I got the game because I heard it was a good RPG, and I found out that it was. Decent storyline (too bad it hasn't changed in any of the other GB games...), incredibly deep battle system (Bulbasaur or Squirtle?), lots of replay value...Screw Final Fantasy. Now this was an RPG.
It's unfortunate that Nintendo killed the series' popularity through overexposure (the card game was a bit much). It also didn't help that the new Game Boy games brought some innovations (Gold and Silver) but were mainly retreads of what's been done before (Ruby, Sapphire, Yellow, Crystal).
In any case, I'm going to remember Pokemon for what it began as: a damn good RPG.
Slashdotters are, for the most part, geeks. Since we're the target audience for this type of product, I'm assuming that some Slashdotters have game related clothing.
So: what, if any, video game related clothing do you own?
Pixar, as a whole, is probably one of the best examples. Pixar uses the technology to great effect, but their movies don't just succeed because of the CG. All of their movies have had great storylines and characters, even if the plots were somewhat predictable. The other thing that the Pixar movies have in common is that all of their films would have been damn near impossible to animate or film in a more traditional fashion.
Pixar has used CG to tell stories that can't be easily told otherwise. I'd say that's a landmark.
For the most part, movie goers don't care if it's realistic or not. Lightsabers are a hell of a lot more interesting than laser pointers, even if the sabers can't physically exist. Until Hollywood is overrun by geeks, we can't expect anything close to real science in films.
It's already apparent that this, much like GTA3 and Mortal Kombat before it, is going to make overprotective parents and bored Congressmen wig out and try to ban video games as a whole. Just remeber: the rating system is there for a reason. A lot of people I know could care less about the ratings, but games like this aren't meant for seven year olds. If people ignore the ratings and buy the game for their kid themselves (as most parents would have to do, considering its rating), they can only get mad at themselves for being irresponsible and not checking the game out prior to purchasing it. In any case, the bottom line should be:
You should be monitoring what your kid does in their free time. If you're offended by the game, don't buy it for your kid. It's that simple.
Slashdot Mirror
Admittedly, it's not going to be cheap to use the e-Reader feature. Nintendo should be applauded, though, for making use of an otherwise useless accessory - the only other games I can think of that use it are Animal Crossing and Pokemon.
Being able to infinitely expand the game's content is always a plus...isn't it?
Bugs, my friend, are the reason why patches exist. Any errors the PC version ships with will (hopefully) be taken out soon after launch.
The apparent design flaws are, for the most part, inexcusable. God knows what posessed Nokia to use a vertical screen - I can't recall seeing any games, with the exception of arcade games, run on a vertically-aligned screen. Having to hold the phone's narrow edge to your head to talk is reason enough to ignore the phone function. Beyond that, that orientation means finger prints galore on the screen. And having to take the battery out to change games...that was just a horrible idea.
Nokia is also missing quality games. While the games they've remade or ported are good ones, I haven't heard anything about N-Gage games beyond the launch titles.
The N-Gage has nothing going for it and will probably fail very early on. Better luck next time, Nokia.
Yes, but Donkey Bongo isn't a very catchy name.
The real profits are made by the software, not the hardware. Even if Nintendo is now losing money on the GCs (not bloody likely), they'll still be selling plenty of games to keep the GC owners entertained. Since Nintendo still has some A-List titles to release (such as Mario Kart and Mario Golf), they won't be suffering anytime soon.
For years, they made playing cards in Japan. IIRC, it was sometime in the 1970s that Nintendo began producing electronic games and, eventually, video games. Do a Google search for "History of Nintendo" and you'll probably find a much more detailed account.
The aftermath? A charred CD in the garbage can, stinking up our hotel floor. Their microwave, soaking in their bathtub (supposedly to douse the flames).
Moral of the story? Microwaves are fun, but be careful what you put in them.
Someone get Skywalker and Solo, ASAP!
Okay game? Yes. Best ever? Not by a long shot.
The character that appeared in the Super Smash Brothers games is known as Ness. Earthbound is just the game's title.
Think about it: for a minimum of time and money spent porting the games, Nintendo has a cheaply-made freebie that they won't lose money from and that will drive the fans crazy. It's perfect for everyone.
Aha. After a quick Google search, I found a site that's got an interview with the player who killed Lord British, and the official response from the Ultima Online team. That site is here.
So...how do you bring back a dead man?
Until the RIAA manages to outlaw leaving your home or sharing legally purchased private property, it's still going to be easy to get free music.
Now You're Painting With Power!
This program is effective because it's fun. It has a (somewhat pathetic) tutorial mode, and the first level or so in the game is easy. It gets hard very quickly, though. If you want to continue playing, you've got to learn how to touch type, and do it quickly - if you can't type quickly, you're toast. And there's something gratifying about watching the zombies explode into green piles of goo...
If you can find the game (should be less than $20), get it. You won't regret it.
That's a good idea...but how on Earth could you leave out Will Wright and Sid Meier?
Here's a short list of characters I think would be good for the walkway. I know that everyone has different opinions, but there are definitely a few that should be on their "Walk of Game" regardless.
-Mario. There's no arguing this one.
-Pac-Man. One of the most popular arcade games of our time.
-Donkey Kong. Like Pac-Man, his arcade game was enormously popular.
-Lara Croft. She's made a huge cultural impact, so she's in.
There's also the characters that would be nice, but probably wouldn't be accepted...
-Q-Bert. Seems appropriate to me - he works well with square tiles...
-Pitfall Harry. Pitfall was one of the Atari's better games, and he would be a great choice.
-Link. The Legend of Zelda series has been proven to be a hit time and time again, but the character isn't very well known outside of the gaming community.
-Guybrush Threepwood, just because he's so damn cool.
Anyone have any more suggestions? I'd love to see what others are thinking...
As for defining the genre...ask any PC gamer to name an RPG. I can almost guarantee that they won't mention FF or Pokemon. It seems to be an opinion held, for the most part, by console gamers.
I realize I've gotten off-topic from my original post, but I still think that Pokemon is a very well done game. It's just not the only kind of RPG out there.
I know exactly what you're talking about, and it bothers me too at times. Still, what other genre would Pokemon and Final Fantasy fall into? The only one that comes to mind is adventure, and that's not a very good fit. What genre do you consider these games?
I still remember (was it back in 1998? Seems longer...) when I got my Pokemon Red game. The games had just been released in the U.S. and the series wasn't exactly popular at that point in time. I got the game because I heard it was a good RPG, and I found out that it was. Decent storyline (too bad it hasn't changed in any of the other GB games...), incredibly deep battle system (Bulbasaur or Squirtle?), lots of replay value...Screw Final Fantasy. Now this was an RPG.
It's unfortunate that Nintendo killed the series' popularity through overexposure (the card game was a bit much). It also didn't help that the new Game Boy games brought some innovations (Gold and Silver) but were mainly retreads of what's been done before (Ruby, Sapphire, Yellow, Crystal).
In any case, I'm going to remember Pokemon for what it began as: a damn good RPG.
So: what, if any, video game related clothing do you own?
Pixar has used CG to tell stories that can't be easily told otherwise. I'd say that's a landmark.
/stating the obvious
You should be monitoring what your kid does in their free time. If you're offended by the game, don't buy it for your kid. It's that simple.